fragrance free

If you’re a follower of mine on Instagram then you’re probably not at all surprised by this new blog post and Sweet Sweat product review. I’ve been using the Sweet Sweat Waist Trimmer and Workout Enhancer for several weeks, and have been posting some very satisfying (and sometimes gross) videos of me peeling off the Waist Trimmer after an intense workout. Each video looks the same, I stand in front of the mirror and peel off the velcro strap and open up the Waist Trimmer to reveal sweat pouring off of my stomach and hips.

I’m sure many of you have heard of Sweet Sweat in the past year or so. The company has become very well known for videos that have blown up the internet and nearly everyone’s Instagram feed. Influencers everywhere have posted stories and photos of them peeling off the product after a workout to show off their sweat, hard work, and sculpted abs. For this reason, thousands of eyes have been on the company and there’s been tons of speculation about whether or not the product “works” and helps you get a flatter stomach.

Sure it looks like it makes you nice and sweaty, but does it actually do anything? I was among the many people that stared at the videos on social media with interest, and a lot of confusion. I must have thought about the product for two years and how much I wanted to try it. Eventually, the day came when I finally did! I received Sweet Sweat for Christmas this year from my boyfriend Matt and just started using it in February.

So here is my honest review after using Sweat Sweet for over a month. I share how I use Sweet Sweat, clean it, how it works, and the pros and cons that I discovered. This post is not sponsored in any way, I’m not making any money, and these are all my personal opinions and experiences using this product. Here are my opinion and takeaways if you’re thinking about trying Sweet Sweat yourself!

How Sweet Sweat Works + My Disclaimer

Before I get started, I want all my readers to be aware of the fact that I do not believe a product such as this one can make you look like Jillian Michaels. I do not believe that getting in shape is as simple as a $45 online purchase. And this is why I, and many other people, have been a bit hesitant when Sweet Sweat showed up in social media feeds. I believe that working out is what gets you into shape, and unless you actually commit to your fitness journey you’re not going to see your body miraculously tone up.

What Sweet Sweat has posted on their website is that their products improve circulation, accelerate the body’s warm up, improve sweating, increase motivation, and prevent injury.

The company is not making any crazy statements… however, the average person scrolling through social media and watching dozens of people with six packs peeling off the waist trimmer might get confused. It may appear as if the company wants people to think that if you buy this product you will look like these fitness models and influencers. That somehow by a simple purchase and use of a Waist Trimmer will give you rock hard abs. However, the company doesn’t actually say that, and people who think this way may want to go back to high school and re-take health class.

People look like Greek gods NOT because they buy one product, but because they work out for an hour or more every day, count calories, and are extremely knowledgeable and passionate about health and fitness.

I will say that it is true that the warmer your muscles are the less likely you are to injure yourself or pull something. At this point, that is common knowledge. It’s the same idea people have when they wear sweatshirts to workout. Sweet Sweat definitely makes you warm, makes you sweat, prevents injury, and motivates you. And I would be willing to bet that it could improve circulation as well because of how warm I feel when I use it.

The Sweet Sweat company often shows thermal images on social media of people who use the product compared to those who didn’t. The people who use the two products together always have a very warm core revealed on thermal imaging. So yes, it does work in that sense.

However, a common myth is that a product like this will make you burn more fat. This is false. You could lose more weight because you’re making yourself warmer which will make you lose water weight, but it won’t make you burn extra calories or wake up looking like Channing Tatum in “Magic Mike.” If you want results like that you’re going to have to do some serious work through exercise, nutrition, and lifestyle changes. I just don’t want to give anyone the wrong idea about this product.

How to Use Sweet Sweat

Sweet Sweat works when the Waist Trimmer and the Workout Enhancer are used together. You apply an ample amount of the gel to your stomach and the areas you want to target. I apply it all over my stomach, lower abdomen, hips, and back. You can also apply it to problem areas like your triceps or inner thighs. Then you put on the Waist Trimmer over your stomach and make it pretty snug. I like mine to feel pretty tight on my body. I’ve seen that people also put on the Waist Trimmer over their arms or thighs if they really want to focus on those areas more than their stomach.

Side Note: You should not use Sweet Sweat it you have lotion or other gels or product on your body. This could clog your pores and prevent sweating.

Then, I go and workout. I always start with cardio which is either stair stepping or jogging and then go into weights. I use the product the entire time I’m at the gym and I don’t take it off until I’m completely done exercising. At the end of my workout, I undo the Velcro strap and slowly remove the Waist Trimmer. That’s when you see how much you’ve sweated during the workout.

PROS of Sweet Sweat

It’s highly satisfying to peel off

At the very end of your workout that’s when you get that satisfying moment of watching the Waist Trimmer come off while sweat drips from your stomach showing you what a f*cking badass you are and feeling like you’ve just been given a shiny gold star from the Fitness Gods. It’s a pretty great feeling. Sometimes I’ll take videos or boomerangs of it for all of you to see on my Instagram Stories! And that’s why it’s probably no surprise that I’m writing this post now. I may have become a bit obsessed with that final moment in the gym when I get finally see my hard work staring back at me in the mirror. If there’s one thing that I will say about this product above everything else is that it’s incredibly rewarding and inspires you to work out more.

Maybe I’m unique and just a very visual person when it comes to things like that, so someone else’s experience may be different than mine. I wrote another post, “My Apple Watch Turned Me Into a Workout Junkie,” about how the only time I’ve ever been inspired to workout regularly was when I got my Apple Watch and had those three little rings on my wrist that I had to close each day. Something about seeing the rings progress and feeling like I had a goal that I was working toward with a little reward at the end, made me actually exercise. Not occasionally, but every single day for 47 days straight! I live for that moment when I can see my hard work, and Sweet Sweat does that for me too.

I like that reward at the end of the workout. I like to see my rings close and swirl, and I like to see the sweat drip off me at the end of the workout. I feel slightly stupid that I need these rewards to exercise! But whatever, at least I exercise. Most Americans don’t.

I have a feeling that other people have this exact same mentality that I do, otherwise I wouldn’t see so many videos on social media of people closing their rings and taking off Sweet Sweat Waist Trainers. It’s a satisfying and rewarding feeling, and it makes you feel like you’re working towards a goal each day, rather than the goal of a body that you might not see until you’ve put in weeks, months, or even years of hard work. It’s a reminder that lets you know you did well today and you’re one day closer to accomplishing those larger health and fitness goals.

It helps with bloating and water retention for a flatter stomach

Now, I know I’ve told you that a product like this will not make you suddenly look ripped or have an entirely different stomach–and that is true. However, after using this product for a while, I can say confidently that it made me look a bit slimmer. Not because the product will make you burn off more fat and calories, but because it makes your core sweat so much that I’ve noticed that I’m having less bloating and water retention. So yes, I do look like I have a flatter stomach!

I’m someone that gets a lot of bloating and sometimes looks like I have a little “pouch” on my belly. Since using Sweet Sweat regularly, I notice that my stomach always looks flatter now than it did before AND it also looks flatter immediately after I use it. So if you’re one of those people who keeps wondering if Sweet Sweat “works”–meaning will it make you look skinnier–I would (hesitantly) say yes. If you have a problem with bloating as I do, I think you’ll also be able to notice that you look slimmer, especially if you use it regularly. Just so we’re on the same page, it won’t make you look Alexis Ren skinny. It will make you look slightly slimmer. You’ll be able to feel more confident in that tight dress if you know what I mean. (And please someone give Alexis a burger… or 100 burgers. That girl needs it!).

Your core feels warmer during exercise

I also like that when I use Sweet Sweat, my core feels warmer during exercise. As I mentioned before, this does prevent injury and makes you sweat, but I also just like the way it feels while I’m working out. My core feels much warmer even if I’m not focusing on that area and doing a plank or sit up. I notice that the warmer I am the more my heartbeat increases, my body is sweating, and I feel like I’m having an intense workout. In the middle of exercising and even after my exercise I feel like I was more productive and had a more challenging workout than I do if I wasn’t wearing it that day.

It creates support and better posture during exercise

The other big plus that I like about the Waist Trimmer is that my posture is just naturally better when I have it on. I don’t get as sloppy or loose no matter what exercise I’m doing. Nice posture is not only good for our health, but it also looks better and helps me maintain better form. I don’t have to work hard to have correct form when there’s something wrapped around me keeping my core and my spine straight. It feels similar to people who use a weightlifting belt for support so that they maintain good posture and are less likely to injure themselves.

I also will say that waist trainers, in general, are known to weaken your core because your core does not have to work as hard and relies on the trainer. So for this reason, I wouldn’t use an actual waist trainer that the Kardashians have been pushing. Sweet Sweat is meant to be used for exercising to help you stay warm and sweat more, it’s not designed to create that hourglass shape. So that’s a good thing! I would never recommend using a waist trainer that could squish organs and break bones. If you’re at all worried about Sweet Sweat, I would only use Sweet Sweat when exercising, and I would also make sure to not neglect the core! You’ll still have to do your planks!

CONS of Using Sweet Sweat

SO MUCH SWEAT

One thing that I don’t particularly like is that this product really does make you sweat a lot more than you’re used to. When I use Sweet Sweat the perspiration actually drips out from under the Waist Trimmer and makes my pants wet. Not damp, wet. It’s pretty nasty. I think it could be because I’m someone who just naturally sweats a lot anyway, so using a product that’s designed to make you sweat gets pretty gross for me. I already drip sweat when I workout, but now when I use Sweet Sweat, it’s a crazy amount! Like, I need to use a towel and wipe sweat off me every minute kind of sweat.

It also doesn’t just make me sweat in the areas where I put it on. I’ve noticed that when I use Sweet Sweat I sweat more over my entire body. So if you’re someone that hardly sweats you’ll probably really like this product, but if you’re like me and you sweat like an animal, it might not be your cup of tea. So there are some days when I decide to not wear it because I’m just not in the mood to feel that sweaty, that gross, and that warm. Some days I just want to take it easy. Other days I love that part about Sweet Sweat, and how intense and sweaty my workouts are because it makes me feel like I’m working harder.

I can’t use Sweet Sweat with light colored clothing

This is because of how much I sweat when I use the product. I have to be conscious of not wearing light-colored clothing like light pink, grey, or blue. I have to wear it with dark or neon colors or else the sweat is very obvious. It wouldn’t really bother me if I wore it in a home gym, but when I exercise in a gym with other people or in a workout class, it would just be embarrassing or awkward to have wet clothing or have to wipe off sweat that much. Again this could be a problem that is unique to me and my body, but if you know you’re someone who sweats a lot like me, you probably will want to be conscious of that while wearing it in a public gym or with light-colored clothes. Unless you’re a badass that just doesn’t care what other people think at all. Keep doing you, make sure to comment on your secret!

Cleaning the product takes a minute

When I first started using the Waist Trimmer, Sweet Sweat put in the directions to wipe off the Waist Trimmer with a towel after use. However, once you actually get the product and notice the material and all of the holes in the product where sweat can hide, you’ll realize that cleaning the product like that would not only take forever but is also NOT sanitary. My Waist Trimmer now has a permanent home hanging in the shower.

After each workout I hop in the shower and rinse it off and then I use my body soap or body wash to soap up the product and scrub it before I rinse it off and hang it to dry. That gets the sweat out of all the little areas, cleans it well so it’s not smelly and growing bacteria, and then it helps it dry quickly. You can’t just wipe the product off and throw it on your closet floor and pick it up the next day. If you do that, it’ll smell, collect germs, and still be dripping in sweat the next day as if you just finished your workout. It really only takes me a minute to clean and it’s not a big deal to me, but I could see how it would annoy people have to do an extra step after they get back from the gym.

Ugghhhhh yes, it contains fragrance! I actually got Sweet Sweat as a Christmas present and I picked it out in early November last year. That was before I was fragrance-free. And we all know that fragrance just means hidden, irregulated chemicals that cause cancer. If you’re interested in learning more about the fragrance issue, you can read my blog post, “The Stinky Scary Secret Behind Consumer Products,” or “How I Limited my Exposure to Chemicals and Found Safe Alternatives to Consumer Products.” In the last few months I’ve gotten rid of 95% of my body products and completely changed every body product that I bring into my home, but sadly this product contains fragrance! I was super disappointed to see the word fragrance after ingredients that say “organic.” It’s just another fine example of greenwashing.

However, I decided to try Sweet Sweat anyways because I was so curious about the product and I also didn’t want my boyfriend to be upset that I never used his present (he gets very worked up about gifts lol). What I would like to do is start using a different oil like coconut oil or jojoba oil since it’s already listened as an ingredient and that way I don’t have to worry about what I’m putting on my body. I’ll probably be sharing updates on oils that I’m using on Instagram Stories as I’m searching for a safer alternative. More info to come later! If you have any suggestions for an oil that would work well with this product let me know in the comments!

Sweet Sweat Takeaway

So aside from the fragrance which I consider to be a bigger issue, I think that if you switch out the Workout Enhancer for an organic oil, it’s definitely worth the purchase. Sweet Sweat is not perfect. Yes there are pros and there are cons, but I think it’s definitely worth a try. At the very least Sweet Sweat is motivating and extremely satisfying while taking it off after exercise. I love the feeling of peeling it off after a workout, I have noticed my stomach looks flatter, it warms me up, and creates a more intense workout. Plus, you kind of feel like a badass walking around the gym with a Waist Trimmer on. I guess I would say that it makes you look like you know what you’re doing.

I would recommend this product if you’re interested in trying it. From what I’ve seen on social media, it seems like once people start using Sweet Sweat they become obsessed with it and use it every time they exercise. It’s worth a try and it’s only about $45 to buy the Sweet Sweat Waist Trimmer and Workout Enhancer, and the company often puts some items on sale.

As always, thank you for coming to Lost Online, and let me know what you think in the comments! Have you used Sweet Sweat before? What were your thoughts on the product? Did you find it extra motivating to workout? Did you notice any of these pros and cons or discover any others that I hadn’t mentioned?

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This is not Facetune, this is the HydraFacial!

Let’s talk about something beauty related today! I feel like mixing it up. Beauty has always been one of my passions, and for years I actually wanted to go to beauty school and be in the beauty industry doing makeup and skincare! It was a dream of mine since I was a kid. I used to bring the girls over from the neighborhood and school and have “spa days” and do their skin, hair, nails, and makeup. It was so much fun.

So today, I’m bringing out that love again to tell you about a new facial that I had done, the HydraFacial. I want to take you through the before and after experience with my skin, the benefits of getting a HydraFacial, the process of the facial, and how my skin is doing now. After getting it done, I now understand why my esthetician loves them so much and why she thought it would be perfect for me. I recommend it to anyone whose skin really needs a detox and refresh.

I’m also going to be doing a spa review at the end for anyone who’s interested in learning about where I got mine done. And if you’re interested in watching the entire process of my HydraFacial in pictures and videos, you can find me on Instagram @heather.ione and click on my highlight called “Beauty.”

What is a HydraFacial?

A HydraFacial is a medical-grade, facial resurfacing treatment that creates a dramatic shift in the health of your skin in one visit without having to go through a chemical peel or microdermabrasion. It also promotes long-term skin health benefits, although you’ll want to do it semi-regularly to keep your skin healthy and youthful, not just once in a blue moon.

The HydraFacial uses an advanced piece of 4-in-1 Vortex technology that’s able to perform deep pore cleansing, hydra peel exfoliation, vortex extraction, and vortex fusion. So you get all the benefits of a standard facial while removing all impurities, evening out skin texture, brightening the skin, and replenishing the skin with a magical mixture of hyaluronic acid, antioxidants, and peptides. Each step is performed with this tube that kind of looks like a wand. The head is changed out and the machine is switched to the next setting before each one of the steps. So it’s slightly different getting this facial than it is a traditional facial where the esthetician uses her hands most of the time.

Step One: The HydraFacial begins with cleansing and exfoliating the skin and removing all dead skin cells to allow the skin to appear brighter and reflect more light.

Step Two: The light peel is applied. The esthetician uses a non-irritating mixture of salicylic acid and gluconic acid to help loosen deep pore debris and prepare the skin for extraction.

Step Three: A painless vortex extraction sucks out all of the dirt and impurities in the skin. It’s basically a vacuum for blackheads.

Step Four: The last step uses vortex fusion to push hyaluronic acid and potent peptides and antioxidants into the skin for plump, healthy, and hydrated-looking skin.

The HydraFacial is a treatment that everyone with any skin type can benefit from. It helps with fine lines and wrinkles, skin elasticity and firming, skin tone, skin texture, skin vibrancy, dark spots, oily skin, enlarged pores, and advanced signs of aging.

Why a HydraFacial was right for me

What led me to book my first HydraFacial appointment was a very unexpected and bizarre series of breakouts. One day I woke up and had breakouts all over my face including on my chin, all over my cheeks, around my mouth where the laugh lines are, and on my forehead. I think it was because I had been sick with strange health issues for months and my whole body was out of whack, including my skin. Also, since I made the move to Florida my skin has completely changed in every way. I get way more clogged pores and scarring than I ever did in my life, but it never looks this bad.

I decided to go back to Jill Stonier in St. Augustine, Florida because I knew I would be back in town and I trusted her with my skin. I needed something to help my skin and I knew it probably had to be more involved than just a standard facial. However, trying out new beauty treatments or facials, especially with an esthetician I haven’t gone to before makes me slightly nervous. There are so many places to go that I usually feel overwhelmed and get worried about choosing the wrong person. My main concern is that I have permanent makeup and I have a fear that someone would use a product that messes up my face and undoes those epic eyebrows I paid good f*cking money for. So I called Jill and sent her several photos of the craziness my skin was going through.

After seeing my skin and noticing that almost every single pore was clogged and my skin texture was bumpy, she recommended that I do the HydraFacial. I was hesitant at first because I knew nothing about it, but I decided to give it a try. By the time I saw her for my appointment, my skin has cleared up significantly, but I still had clogged pores that created an uneven texture in my skin and a forest of blackheads on my nose. It was still crying for help.

When I finally showed up for my appointment, my skin was dull, clogged, and dry. It was unhappy in almost every way. Jill promised me that my skin would be beautiful and glowing when I was done and that the HydraFacial is something that celebrities do before events.

My Full HydraFacial Experience

The facial started with Jill cleansing my skin without the machine and then cleansing and exfoliating my skin with the machine afterward. She gently moved the wand around my face to all the different areas and went over them a few times. I remember thinking that this part of it felt like I was being licked by a cat. It felt slightly scratchy, but not at all painful or uncomfortable. This part got rid of the layer of dead skin that’s been hanging around since I ditched all my fragrance ridden scrubs and cleansers. This step also used a mixture of ingredients that smooths and softens the skin, which I really needed.

In the second step of the HydraFacial, Jill used the machine to apply the light peel all over my face. She moved the wand to different spots of my face and would kind of dab it around and then use her fingertips to spread the product around smoothly. This part didn’t feel like anything, just felt like serum being applied to my face. I didn’t react to it at all or feel any stinging or burning sensations that you would usually feel after getting a peel done. It also didn’t make me red which Jill was expecting since I’m obviously super pale. So luckily when I do get a peel done in the future, it shouldn’t be a big issue.

Photo 1 taken before HydraFacial, photo 2 taken after cleansing & exfoliation, photo 3 taken after extraction, photo 4 taken after hydra-infusion.

The next step was extraction. In this part, Jill used the wand (I don’t even know if it’s called that, but let’s just go with it) to gently extract all of the junk that had found a home in my pores. I felt like a suction sensation all over my skin and Jill went over all of the areas multiple times to make sure everything was coming out. After looking in the mirror after this step, all of my blackheads were gone. It was literally like a mini vacuum for blackheads. If only I could find something like that to use at home!

The last step with the HydraFacial machine was the fusion part of it. In this step, she moved the wand all over my face as it infused my skin with hyaluronic acid, antioxidants, and peptides. If you watched my Instagram story as it came out, I described the sensation as feeling like a bunch of fairies were spraying water into my skin with itty bitty fire hoses. I know that doesn’t make sense at all, but I love that description! It was not at all painful, but I could almost feel as if little bubbles were being sprayed and swirled into my pores. During this part of the facial, Jill also went over my lips with the wand several times to make them look extra plump and soft.

Hyaluronic Acid: In case you’re just hearing about hyaluronic acid for the first time, hyaluronic acid is one of the best things to use on your skin to keep it healthy, soft, and youthful. Our body actually produces it naturally and its purpose is to retain water and keep our tissue moist and lubricated. It’s found mostly in our skin, connective tissues, and eyes. As we get older our skin slowly loses hyaluronic acid so using it topically is a very common anti-aging practice. I love buying 100% hyaluronic acid and serums that have it listed as one of the main ingredients. What’s different about the HydraFacial is the machine actually preps the skin, clears out the pores, and then gently pushes hyaluronic acid into the skin so it’s more effective than just rubbing it onto the top layer of the skin.

Introducing Patchology Products

After this part of the facial was finished, Jill applied Patchology FlashPatch Rejuvenating Eye Gels underneath my eyes. These eye gels contain a mixture of ingredients that are meant to soothe and moisturize the skin and reduce puffiness. Fun fact, they’re also biodegradable, which is a plus, but they do contain fragrance. The most important ingredients include:

Caffeine to improve microcirculation for brighter tone and reduced puffiness

She also applied Patchology FlashPatch Hydrating Lip Gels. The gels moisture the lips better than any chapstick you will find in your life and are designed to provide deep moisture, help the lips retain water, and prevent the skin from aging so your lips look youthful, soft, and plump. These are both biodegradable and latex-free, but they do contain fragrance. The most important ingredients include:

Niacinamide to provide anti-aging benefits, help increase ceramide and free fatty acid levels in the skin, and prevent skin from losing water

All information about these products I learned directly from the manufacturer. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

I absolutely loved this part of the facial because both the eye and lip gels where so cool and soothing and were the most relaxing part of the facial. After they had been taken off my eyes and lips were so hydrated and soft. I would definitely recommend trying them if you’re someone who is not bothered by fragrance in your beauty products.

Light Therapy

Once the gels were applied to my face, the last part of the facial included blue and red light therapy. I spent 15 minutes under the blue light and then 15 minutes under the red light. The lights are so strong that they could burn your eyes so I had to wear protective glasses during this part. Each light has there own set of benefits for the skin.

Blue Light Therapy: used in facials because it’s known to reduce inflammation, treat oily skin, speed up healing, kill bacteria, improve skin texture, remove sun spots, treat acne, remove scars that were originally caused by acne. Blue light therapy is also used outside of facials to kill skin cancer cells and treat depression.

Red Light Therapy: used in facials because it’s known to stimulate and repair cells, promote wound healing, boost circulation, improve skin condition, build collagen, reduce the appearance of wrinkles, firm the skin, mend sun damage, diminish scars, and relieve inflammation. People use red light therapy for other reasons too, including promoting hair growth, relieve pain and stiffness, reduce side effects of cancer treatments, improve joint health, and many more. Although to reap all of those benefits you would have to do red light therapy on a regular basis, meaning multiple times a week.

Public Service Announcement: I think it’s also worth mentioning that if you really want these results, you can’t just use light therapy once. Nothing is a one-time magical solution. For this reason, I’ll be introducing more facials into my routine for long term skin benefits and anti-aging benefits.

Light therapy may not be used in every HydraFacial, but Jill loves to use it in her facials because of the wide range of benefits it has on the skin. It didn’t feel warm or hot at all, which you might this it would be because it’s so bright, but it’s very comfortable. During this part of the facial Jill gave me an arm and upper body massage and used hot towels. I felt very pampered!

Once the facial was finished, Jill actually brought the container of fluid over to me that contained everything the machine has collected and sucked out of my pores. The water looks yellow and you can clearly see all of my dead skin and the nastiness that had been trapped in my skin. This picture right here is proof of why facials are so important. You can’t get that kind of exfoliation at home. ﻿

The Results!

At the very end of the HydraFacial, my skin was bright and glowing. It was the best my skin had looked in a very long time. I did what Jill recommended, which was to leave all the product on until the end of the day for best results, and to avoid sweating or exercising, and to drink lots of water.

That night when I looked at my skin in the mirror, I noticed that my skin was much brighter, lighter, and was glowing. Most importantly, my skin texture had evened out. I had absolutely no flaking or dead skin which is a big problem for me. There was also no redness which could have happened from the light peel that was applied.

My favorite part though was my lips were much fuller and softer, and they felt slightly tingly even 24 hours later, like I had applied lip plumper.

After giving my skin a nice look-over in the mirror I noticed I only had about five blackheads on my whole nose and they were all coming to the surface. Then, after the first day, I got two breakouts on each one of my cheeks. What normally happens after your skin gets a facial is it has to go through a bit of a purge. The esthetician might not be able to clear out every pore immediately, but the process helps draw the dirt and oil to the surface. So it’s very normal to have a breakout or two appear.

Side Note: I remember meeting a girl who was in beauty school studying to becoming an esthetician and she had to take turns giving other girls facials and receiving facials so everyone could practice a few times. By the end of the week, she had about 5 to 6 facials and her skin looked INCREDIBLE, but she told me that the first several days her skin had tons of breakouts because it was purging all the junk in her pores. Moral of the story, don’t get discouraged if you get your first facial and wonder why you mysteriously got a pimple the next day.

Spa Review

The studio where I got my HydraFacial was in St. Augustine, Fla., off US 1. It’s located on Market Street in the Palencia community, which is smack dab in the middle between Jacksonville and Historic St. Augustine. Jill Stonier, a makeup artist, esthetician, and lash extension specialist has her own business there.

I can honestly say that I had such a fun time inside her ridiculously cute studio. Out of the few facials I have had I remember them being slightly awkward and boring, but it was such a good time. She’s incredibly sweet and so nice to talk to. It reminded me of being back in elementary school and middle school when I used to have my friends come over for a sleepover so we could have “spa days.”

Jill also had tons of advice for me about skincare, products, social media, and life in general. Which if you know me personally then you know that I hate taking advice from almost anyone, except for kind strangers.

I also believe that it’s not an esthetician’s knowledge that makes them great to go to (although that is super important) but it’s the little things they do that totally make the experience. Afterward, you actually want to go back and spend the time and money on your skin. The massage, the hot towels, and the light therapy were all nice touches that made the experience so much more enjoyable than the one you would have at a big chain spa.

There was also no product-pushing, up-selling, or sticker-shocking which I greatly appreciate! Isn’t that the worst when you get done being pampered and suddenly walk out of the room to be pressured into getting products or a membership? It drives me crazy!

I loved that at the very end of the facial Jill showed me the water with everything that had been extracted and exfoliated from my skin. I’m sure other people would be grossed out by that but I loved it! It was cool to physically see how well the HydraFacial had worked. It’s kind of like when you use a Biore Blackhead Removal Strip and you can see all the blackheads that came out of your pores. Yeah, it’s gross, but it’s oddly satisfying and you can’t help but look at it after.

So if you are in the St. Augustine area and want to try this facial, I highly recommend seeing Jill. She’s so knowledgeable about skincare and obviously passionate about what she does. You’ll love her I promise. And if you’re into false lashes you can even get those done after and walk around all day feeling like a Kardashian.

Thanks for reading!

After my first HydraFacial experience, I can say that I 100% recommend getting this facial done. It’s the type of facial you would want to get before an event or before getting photos done when you really want your skin to look good. It makes the skin so plump, beautiful and hydrated.

Remember to tell me what you think in the comments! Have you had a HydraFacial done before? What was your experience like? Have you had red or blue light therapy done? Do you use it for anything outside of skincare? Have you tried Patchology products? And lastly, let me know if you would like to see more beauty content from me! If so, what kinds of treatments would you be interested in hearing my review of?

Before you go, if you like what you read here, remember to scroll all the way to the bottom, click that little “+” symbol, and enter your email address where it says, “Follow blog via email,” for my weekly blog posts to be sent directly to you! Thanks for coming to Lost Online!

Today I’m super excited to share this post with you, because not only is it my very first product review, but it’s also my first GIVEAWAY! (But we’ll get to the giveaway part later). I’ve been blogging for well over a year now, and have thought long and hard about doing product reviews in the past, but nothing felt right. There was no product and no brand that I loved and believed in enough to put my stamp of approval on. I knew that if I was to ever come onto my blog and discuss a product or a brand, it had to be one that I felt added value to my life AND was an all natural and ethical company, especially if it was related to clothing or skin care.

One thing you should know as a reader of mine is that I don’t ever want to promote something so I (or anyone else) can simply earn money for advertising a crap product to you. There’s a reason why I stopped studying advertising in college, just saying!

Anyway, there was nothing that I believed in enough that I felt deserved a blog post… until the day I started using Mad Hippie products.

What is Mad Hippie?

If you’re just hearing about Mad Hippie for the first time, prepare to be blown away. Mad Hippie is an anti-aging, all natural skin care line. Their skincare philosophy was built on the idea that natural skin care products should be just as effective as traditional anti-aging products. Because we shouldn’t have to sacrifice our health and lather our bodies with chemicals to have beautiful, glowing skin.

They are free from any and all synthetic fragrances, dyes, chemicals, parabens, PEGs, SLS, and all the other nasty additives that you can think of. Plus, Mad Hippie is focused on sustainability. They use BPA-free pumps, print with soy inks, run their facilities off alternative energy, AND donate $1 for every single web sale to conservation efforts. As someone who has recently been making the transition to chemical-free and fragrance-free products, Mad Hippie has checked all of my boxes.

Last, but definitely not least, Mad Hippie does not test on animals or use animal products, aside from a small amount of beeswax in one product.

Discovering Mad Hippie Skincare

I first started to become aware of Mad Hippie Skincare about 8 or 9 months ago. It kept showing up on my social media feed and health and wellness influencers seemed to love it. After hearing it so highly recommended by fitness instructors, yogis, models, and influencers, I finally decided to go to their website and learn more. That’s when I started to understand why people seemed to rave about Mad Hippie like there was no tomorrow.

I was surprised to see that Mad Hippie was anti-aging, all natural, and only offers TEN products. In my opinion, that’s when you know a company sells great products when they don’t waste their time constantly bringing in new stuff, but rather focuses on a few items that are high quality. They also list each and every ingredient in the product and the benefit of the ingredient. Lately, I feel a lot more comfortable using products that have ingredients like green tea, aloe vera, goji berry, and coconut oil than I do using products that I don’t understand. And in case you were wondering, Mad Hippie Skincare is rated as a ZERO on the Think Dirty App. This means that they are completely safe and pose no short term or long term health risks, unlike most of the products you find today. If you go on the Mad Hippie Website you can actually see every single ingredient listed and their benefits. They send you a handy little book with all the products and ingredients as well! Although I have at least 4 of those little books now, I still love them, and it feels like I’m getting a present with every order.

My Mad Hippie Story

I remember I decided to wait until Black Friday so I could buy a bunch of Mad Hippie products at once and test them all out together. I believe that using a skincare line as opposed to just one of the items works better because each of the products is designed to compliment each other. I purchased the Cream Cleanser, Cleansing Oil, Facial SPF, Face Cream, Eye Cream, Vitamin C Serum, and Exfoliating Serum.

I was so excited over this brand that I decided to use the products every day for two months and write down every day how my skin was doing. I wanted to see if in fact Mad Hippie was worth the hype and worked as well as the other products on the market. I didn’t want to excitedly talk about this brand unless I knew it worked well, and I wanted to give it enough of a chance, rather than having the product for one week and then showing it off on Instagram. So I lined up all my Mad Hippie Skincare products, opened up a new note on my phone, and started my little experiment.

I used the whole line, and in the morning I woke up and immediately saw the change in my skin. When I woke up and looked in the mirror, my skin was actually glowing. It was clear, beautiful, and luminous. Very similar to after you get a facial. I remember being surprised by how good my skin looked just from something that I used at home without getting a facial done. I opened up my notes and wrote down these observations:

Skin feels very smooth, better than it usually does after I use moisturizers and serums. I still feel the moisturizer on my skin even 8 hours later.

Normally there is redness on my cheeks and nose when I wake up, but there’s no redness today.

Skin is literally glowing like I got a facial.

No breakouts or extra blackheads.

Skin is looking very “plump.”

Dark spots are showing less.

Skin is still glowing through the makeup I put on.

After two weeks, I stopped the log because it was getting old taking the time out of my mornings to write down the same thing. My skin glowed and looked much better after using Mad Hippie for the first time. The log has stopped, but my morning and nighttime routines are still filled with a relaxing Mad Hippie ritual even 4 months later. I love using Mad Hippie so much that I use the entire line. Mad Hippie fills my shelves, I have backup products ready, and I’ve deemed that this wonderful brand was worthy of the “Heather Ione stamp of approval” for all of my readers. I also want to add that the customer service at Mad Hippie gets 5 stars as well, I’ve had to reach out to them for a few random issues and they always helped me and been enormously friendly.

Cleansing Oil

The Mad Hippie Cleansing Oil is made from pumpkin seed oil, safflower oil, rosehip oil, ginger, white tea, and squalane. It works by softening and smoothing the skin, while also removing makeup and impurities. I use this product by gently massaging it all over my face each night. It helps to start breaking up the product on my face and removing more impurities than I would be able to remove with just one face wash overnight. It also helps get rid of my super stubborn eyebrow and eye makeup that clings to my skin with strength I will never understand. I then take a cotton pad and whip the oil and makeup off before I start cleansing.

Cream Cleanser

I’m a huge fan of the Cream Cleanser in this line and it’s definitely one of my favorite products. It’s made from jojoba oil, orchid extract, macadamia oil, sodium hyaluronate, algae extract, sesame oil, green tea, sodium PCA, and shea butter. I use it morning and night and it’s my favorite step in the skincare routine because it’s so soft and creamy. It feels more like I’m massaging a moisturizing cream into my face than a face wash, so I usually gently wash my face for several minutes to clear out each and every pore. (Also it’s so relaxing that sometimes I have to tell myself “OK Heather, stop rubbing your face and wash the cleanser off already. You’ve been washing your face for a weird amount of time”).

By the time I’m done cleansing, my skin already feels soft. Normally after I use another face wash, my face is left feeling dry. Other face washes leave my skin feeling squeaky clean and exfoliated, but also very bare at the same time. After washing my face with another product it feels as if my skin has been stripped down and I have to rush to moisturize my face after. But Mad Hippie Cleanser leaves it feeling fresh and healthy.

Exfoliating Serum

After cleaning my face at night, I then use the Exfoliating Serum. This product is made from glycolic acid, lactic acid, apple stem cells, gigawhite, matrixyl synthe ‘6, sodium hyaluronate, white tea, goji berry, and ceramide. I use this product by removing the dropper and place a few drops onto the palm of my hand and then use my fingertips to place some of the product on my forehead, nose, cheeks, and chin. Then I gently massage the product into my skin for at least a minute. One thing that Mad Hippie shares about their product line is that it works better the more you massage the product into the skin, so I do that with each step of the routine, especially with the serums. By massaging the product into the skin it allows the product to penetrate deeper into the skin rather than sitting on the top layer.

I can always tell that this product works well because every time I use it I wake up the next morning and the palms of my hands have dead skin all over them from applying the serum to my face the night before. For this reason, I do take a break from the Exfoliating Serum once in awhile.

Vitamin C Serum

After cleansing my face in the morning, I then use the Vitamin C Serum. This product is made from vitamin C, vitamin E, ferulic acid, hyaluronic acid, konjac root, chamomile extract, and clary sage. This is another one of my absolute favorite products from this line because it literally makes your skin glow. It might make you believe in magic, just saying. How Mad Hippie is able to create a serum naturally that makes your skin glow is beyond me. Applying this serum to my face is one of my favorite parts of the morning. Instantly my skin looks brighter, even, and beautiful, and the glow stays even after I apply makeup.

For this reason, the Mad Hippie Vitamin C Serum has a bit of a cult following and I received several messages from people obsessed with the Vitamin C Serum after sharing on Instagram that I bought the Mad Hippie Skincare line. If you haven’t tried this brand before and you’re looking to test it out, I would recommend this product to you first.

Eye Cream

After the cleansing and applying serum to my face, I always put on the Eye Cream next. This is my other obsession with this line and I’ve probably bought four of the Mad Hippie Eye Creams in the last few months. It’s made from matrixyl synthe ‘6, Regu-age, SunEye, chamomile extract, pomegranate, vitamin C, wheat protein, vitamin B3, argan oil, white tea, ceramide, and vitamin E.

I have tried many eye creams since I was a teenager. I used to buy new beauty products each and every week, and trying out skincare products was a full-blown obsession at one point. I’ve tried A LOT, and this Mad Hippie Eye Cream is my favorite I have ever used. It’s extremely soft and creamy, and when I wake up in the morning I can still feel the cream on my skin. However, it’s not at all heavy. I’ve used eye creams that irritated my eyes, weighed them down, made me look tired, and felt heavy. This one doesn’t do that. You’ll still feel the product on your skin but not in a way that bothers your eyes, rather it just says on through the night so your skin will stay soft. The Mad Hippie products are created with the ingredient ceramide to form a light barrier on your skin to hold in the moisture and protect the skin.

This is a product that I actually buy two of at a time so I never have to worry about being without it. Yes, I have separation anxiety with my eye cream. Don’t judge me.

Facial Moisturizer

Of course, after cleansing and serum, I finished my routine with moisturizing my face. The Mad Hippie Facial Moisturizer is made with matrixyl synthe 6’, Syn-Tacks, coenzyme Q10, resveratrol, green tea, niacinamide, aloe vera, coconut oil, argan oil, acai berry, and pomegranate. I love this product because just like the other products, a little goes a long way. I only have to use a small amount of my entire face to wake up with soft, smooth skin in the morning. Just like the eye cream, the product forms a protective layer on the skin so it holds in the moisture all day or all night. I use this product in the morning and at night to moisturize my skin.

Facial SPF

During the day, after I’ve applied my moisture, I use a little bit of SPF over my face. The Mad Hippie SPF is made from zinc oxide, red raspberry seed oil, avocado oil, carrot seed oil, vitamin C + vitamin E + ferulic acid, shea butter, jasmine oil, and sodium hyaluronate. It’s a 30+ SPF and it lasts a long time. I used a small amount of this product on my face every morning for the last 4 months and it’s still nowhere near gone. It works incredibly well because of the zinc.

I’ve noticed that the product is tricky to rub in I think because the moisturizer or the SPF starts to peel off if you rub it too much, so I usually rub the SPF into my hands and then pat it all over my face. It works so well that even when I accidentally got sunburned all over my body (because I apparently forgot that I’m Irish and Canadian and that I need to use sunscreen like a motherf*cker) my face was still its usual vampirian color. White. As. Sh*t.

Thank you, Mad Hippie!

My little skincare experiment is now over, but I’m officially hooked on Mad Hippie Skincare products. I still have yet to try the Vitamin A Serum, the Facial Mist, or the Antioxidant Facial Oil, but those are on my list!

I fell in love with this brand because it works so well and is completely natural and healthy for your skin. Mad Hippie doesn’t believe that women (or men) should have to sacrifice their health for beautiful skin. We shouldn’t have to lather our body in foreign chemicals or “fragrances” just to wake up with soft skin and prevent wrinkles. This line has also been raved about by Think Dirty, saying that they’re “Mad for Mad Hippie,” and just about every fashion and beauty magazine you can think of. It’s been talked about in Allure, Women’s Health, the Today Show, Elle, Cosmopolitan, Marie Claire, USA Today, Forbes and more. It’s not just me who’s obsessed with Mad Hippie.

Like I said in the beginning, I will never come to this blog and promote a crap product to my readers. This is a platform that I use to discuss my passions, my favorite things, my obsessions, and my beliefs. Everything that I shared in this post is my own opinions and beliefs. This post has NOT been paid for, however…

It’s GIVEAWAY Time

Mad Hippie has generally donated two products for Lost Online to have its very first GIVEAWAY! I will be giving away one Cleansing Oil and one Antioxidant Facial Oil on my Instagram very soon! All you have to do follow me on Instagram @heather.ione, find my photo of me with these two special products and tag THREE of your beautiful friends for a chance to win!

Go enter to win on my Instagram for a chance to receive the Mad Hippie Cleansing Oil and Antioxidant Oil! And as always let me know what you think in the comments and scroll to the bottom on this page to subscribe and have all future Lost Online blog posts sent directly to you!

Have you tried Mad Hippie before? What did you think? Which products did you try and which ones were your favorites? Or do you have another natural, fragrance-free skincare brand that you’re obsessed with! Let me know, I’m always interested in trying new things!

At the end oflast week’s blog post about the fragrance loophole and greenwashing, I left you on a little bit of cliffhanger about what to do next. After reading all about the toxic chemicals that fill our everyday products, you might be thinking, “OK Heather, I’m terrified! How do I protect myself?!” So now that I have you scared out of your mind, believe it or not, there are actually several things that you can do to make sure that the products you’re bringing into your life are safe and healthy.

I would like to first add that clearing out all of the dangerous consumer products in our lives is not an easy task. Most people do not have the means or the time to throw out every body product and cleaning agent in their lives and purchase all new things. So I would like to start this post by saying that if you do want to clean up the products in your life, don’t be hard on yourself about it. Don’t feel like it has to happen instantly. Don’t feel like you have to know everything right away. I’m still learning about the fragrance issue and I’m still trying to search for replacements for products that I’ve used for years. So it’s OK if this change takes a few weeks or a few months, as long as you are making the change! That’s why I put together some information for you in this post to make the transition a little bit easier. I wanted to share a few things that I have been doing to limit my exposure to chemicals so you have a place to start.

Second, I wanted to mention that several people I’ve talked to about this issue of fragrance and greenwashing feel overwhelmed and helpless OR want to throw out everything they own immediately. I’ve noticed that some people approach the problem with the thought process of, “Oh well, everything causes cancer. There’s nothing you can do about it.” But that is not at all true. And if you ask me, I think that throwing your hands in the air and saying that you’re helpless when it comes to this issue is both irresponsible and lazy.

Yes, it will take some research, time, money, trial and error, but you will figure it out and you and your family will be much better off! It just takes doing a little bit of research and switching that automatic instinct to buying something, to one of curiosity about the product. It takes training yourself to flip over a product and reading the ingredients before throwing it in a shopping cart! It’s really that simple. With that being said, here are a few things that you should know that will make a difference in your life today.

The Think Dirty App

In this mission to rid myself of chemicals over the last several weeks, I went searching for resources to make it a little bit easier. As I discussed in last week’s post, even if you do read ingredients, you might not always be able to tell how safe a product is unless you’re very familiar with chemicals and their side effects. Plus, you can’t rely on products that appear natural, because most of the “natural products” contain fragrance and use sneaky greenwashing tricks. One of these resources I discovered is a magical little app called “Think Dirty.” I’ve downloaded many different apps to help me discover what’s really in our products, but none of them stack up to Think Dirty!

Think Dirty was started by a woman, Lily Tse, who had a long history of cancer and breast cancer in her family. Due to her own personal journey and research into consumer products she learned all about the fragrance loophole, greenwashing, and the irregulation of our products. Through her own journey, she discovered that finding safer products for herself was very challenging. So she wanted to create a tool for consumers that compares products easily and has transparency about the ingredients in them.That’s how Think Dirty was born.

Think Dirty allows you to search a body or household product and see the potentially dangerous chemicals that are in them. Each product is reviewed and researched so you figure out just how safe or toxic a product is before you make a purchase. Each ingredient listed on the product’s label is evaluated for documented evidence of Carcinogenicity, Developmental & Reproductive Toxicity, and Allergenicity & Immunotoxicity. This allows the user to see if the product is completely safe or if it could cause short term versus long term health risks.

It shows consumers this by listing every ingredient in the product and then ranks them on a “Dirty Meter” that ranges from 0-10. Products that are in the green are rated as a 0-3 and do not contain any ingredients which have a documented potential negative health impact; products that are in the yellow are rated as a 4-7 and contain ingredients that have a moderate negative long term health effect; and products that are in the red are rated as 8-10 and have potentially serious negative long term health effects.

What’s also great about Think Dirty is if any product is not on the app, you can scan the barcode, type in the product and company information, and it will be reviewed. Currently, there are over 1.1 million products reviewed on the app and it’s still growing!

In the Red

When I first discovered this app, you can probably guess what came next… Matt and I immediately went to the bathroom to look up all of our products and discover what they rated on the Dirty Meter, and what we saw on the screen was so disheartening. All of the common products we both used for years were in the red. Take a look at my favorite products and where they rated:

Summer’s Eve Cleansing Wash – 8

Dove Sulfate Free Deep Moisture – 8

Sensodyne Toothpaste – 6

Dove Clinical Protection Deodorant – 8

Mary Kay Eye Makeup Remover – 8

Soft Soap Hand Soap – 8

Burt’s Bees Deep Cleansing Cream – 5

Gold Bond Ultimate Healing Hand Cream – 8

Gold Bond Body Powder – 8

Barbasol Shaving Cream – 8

Garnier Fructis Flat Iron Perfector Straightening mist – 8

Bore Pore Cleansing Strips – 7

Alvera Aloe and Almonds Roll On Deodorant – 8

Formula 10.06 Sea Side Glow Skin Hydrating Peel Mask – 8

Burt’s Bees Brightening Serum – 8

Herbal Essences Argan Oil Shampoo and Conditioner – 8

So there I was standing in the middle of a huge mess in my bathroom, discovering for the first time the true dangers of the products I had lathered on my skin every day for years! I’m not gonna lie, I was completely overwhelmed. I realized that I had to replace nearly every body product I owned, which was no small task. It all started with a big box to throw away the old stuff, a notepad to write down the products I would have to search for, and several weeks of trying out safer alternatives.

With that being said, here are the six changes that I’ve made to drastically reduce the amount of chemicals I’m exposed to without losing my mind…

How I approached this transition

1. Purging all fragrances

My first order of business was purging every product that had a fragrance listed as an ingredient. This includes all cleaning products, all skincare products, all soaps. Everything. After watching the “Stink” documentary, I was very concerned about the fact that I didn’t know what was in the fragrance ingredient. So I first started removing all of that.

However, after I discovered the Think Dirty app, I realized that several of my products may not have had a fragrance, but that didn’t mean they were necessarily safe either. I also wanted to pull all those old products back out so I could learn if what I had been using in the past causes short term or long term health risks. I put a big box in the bathroom one night, read every single label and searched every item on Think Dirty whether they had fragrance or not.

2. Tossing out the high-risk products

It took about an hour for me to look up every product we owned and realize that 9 out of 10 of our products were in the red. So I decided that rather than try to replace everything overnight, I would concentrate on the products that were an 8 or higher. I would clear out the most dangerous ones first!

This, unfortunately, meant the products I use on a daily basis: the toothpaste, the shampoo, the conditioner, and the deodorant. The things that you use every single day which are more difficult to find a quick and safe replacement for. Some of the products I had to keep for a week before I could get my hands on safer toothpaste or deodorant, but they were my top priority.

3. Using Think Dirty to find new products

The next step required spending a few nights searching for replacements on the app. It also required me to evaluate what types of products I would be willing to use instead. Would I buy products that were only in the green and rated a 3 or lower of the Dirty Meter? Would I buy products that were green and yellow and rated a 7 or lower? What level would I feel comfortable and safe using from now on?

I ultimately decided that the products I would use instead would be a 4 or lower–meaning that they wouldn’t cause any long term health risks. Bumping it up to a 4 also meant that I could give myself some leeway and that I didn’t have to be perfect.

This step required some time on Think Dirty to discover products that were in the green but also were reasonably priced. One of the big issues with going fragrance-free and chemical free is that products that are the healthy replacements can sometimes cost 3 to 5 times as much as what you used to buy.

Another challenge is that the “safe” shampoos, deodorants, toothpastes, soaps, etc., don’t work as well. They might not lather or foam up as nicely, or taste as good, or make you feel as fresh or squeaky clean as what we’re used to using, or last for as long. So this step could take you one week, or it could take you months to find a replacement. Stay strong, it will happen! It took me several weeks, but I finally found several replacements that I finally feel are good enough to use on my body every day. See below for my new collection of body products that pose no long term health risks!

Side Note: Keep in mind that when using the Think Dirty App, you’ll have to look up each product individually. Sometimes a shampoo will rank as an 8, but a conditioner will rank as a 3. You’ll also have to look up each variation of the product. A product may be in the same line but have different scents or ingredients, which means that every product will rate differently on the app. You can’t just assume that every hand soap is in the green because you looked up one on Think Dirty.

4. No longer use body lotion

The next change I decided to make was to go natural for some of the products I use all the time rather than purchasing a new product. One of these examples is that I decided to stop using lotion and instead use coconut oil. It works just as well but it doesn’t require me to spend all day searching for something else, it’s inexpensive, and it’s completely natural. I don’t have to worry about a dirty meter at all!

5. Switched to natural tampons

Throughout the last two months of making this change, I knew that I had to focus on the other items I was using that I had also turned a blind eye to for many years, tampons. Our conventional tampons contain fragrance as well! Along with alcohols, additives, and hydrocarbons. Another issue with conventional tampons is that many of them are bleached, which leaves behind other chemicals that we soak up through one of the most absorbent and sensitive areas of the female body. For this reason, one of my New Year’s resolutions this year was to switch to completely organic tampons that I didn’t have to worry about using.

I came across one brand, in particular, that’s inexpensive, can be found at your grocery store or drugstore, and is in the green on Think Dirty! It actually has a little green check next to it instead of a number, that’s how you know it’s super safe! They’re from a brand known at Seventh Generation. The Seventh Generation tampons are BPA-free, fragrance-free, cruelty-free, and are made from 95% plant-based materials. It’s simple changes like this that can drastically improve your long term health.

6. Switched to natural candles with essential oil

Another item that I decided I should be paying equal attention to is the candles that we burn in our home. I no longer trust the Vanilla Bean Marshmallow Whatever candles that I used to buy on sale at Marshalls or Bath and Body Works. Instead, Matt and I are using candles that are natural-made with essential oils instead of a man-made fragrance.

7. Saying goodbye to the Amazon shopping sprees

The last two changes that I wanted to share are about the clothing that we wear. Because it’s not just our lotions and potions that are filled with chemicals. It’s actually on our clothes too. I mentioned this in the previous post about fragrance on clothing that gave me horrible allergic reactions and caused massive hives on my whole body. In my high school and college years when I was obsessed with online shopping, I used to buy so many blouses and graphic tees from Amazon.

It wasn’t just Amazon. I shopped on many online stores that you would see in the mall, but the majority of the time when I had a serious allergic reaction, it was caused by something that I bought on Amazon. Like a big, cozy scarf, or a pretty new blouse, or a sweater, or sports bra, or tank top. Many times I would open a box of clothing from Amazon and immediately smell the chemicals on them. These were the products that would cause the hives and the burning sensations on my skin. Because, as I mentioned last week, America doesn’t regulate chemicals as strongly as other countries too. Oftentimes a company will ship products to America where they can get away with selling it.

For this reason, I no longer splurge on online shopping sprees and fall victim to the “Buy Now With One Click” button. I make sure that I want and need something, and I shop around to find things that I know are not coming to me directly from a factory in China.

8. I wash it before I wear it

This last piece of advice also relates to clothing. When you do buy a product, make sure you wash it before you wear it! One of my worst allergic reactions was from a headband from Forever 21. Even if it’s something so small, if it’s made out of fabric, it’s best to wash it. Remember the children’s pajamas in the “Stink” documentary I mentioned that were covered in DNA-altering chemicals? You can use all the sustainable fashion apps out there, but you never know what a product came in contact with before you owned it. Always take the time to do research and clean it before you drape it over your body.

Remember: These are just mostly suggestions on how to eliminate chemicals in body products, but there are so many other things to be conscious of including the clothing your purchasing, the cleaning products you use, and food you buy. Of course, it’s impossible to tackle these issues in one day or one blog post, but remember to start making changes in those areas as well. Our consumerist and capitalist culture has left us with so many challenges that hinder our health and well being. But I would like to help make it easier for you in any way that I can, one post at a time.

Let’s Be Honest!

Several weeks later I still have a few things that need to be replaced but I’m feeling much better than I was before I started this journey. It really just takes time. If you’re feeling overwhelmed by this change, maybe just make it a point to throw out one toxic product and buy a replacement each week.

Just so we’re on the same page, I’m not claiming to be an expert on this issue. I’m just starting to learn about it now. I’m simply a young woman who doesn’t want to get breast cancer, or have a heart attack, or become infertile… all because I live in a country where the profit of companies like Forever 21, Jergens, Bath and Body Works, Marshalls, Target, and Amazon are valued over the health and well being of all of our citizens. I have had many relatives who have died of cancer, and I don’t want that to happen to me. I want to limit my exposure to chemicals as much as I can and try my best to be a conscious consumer. But I’m not perfect and I still haven’t begun to figure out what I’ll use to replace the cleaning products we’re using currently.

I encourage you to do your own research on this topic and find ways to protect yourself as well. And when you do, please please please share your knowledge in the comments section below. Let me know the lifestyle changes that you’ve made to protect yourself and what your experience has been. Our government, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Food and Drug Administration, and our very own companies are not helping us. It’s up to us to help and protect each other.

As always, let me know what you think in the comments! Are you currently trying to go fragrance-free? What inspired the change? Have you had any bad experiences that made you switch your products? What steps did you take to protect yourself? Were there any resources that helped?

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